Both Barrels June 2022

The season post opening week has been a turbulent and unpredictable one.The region has seen frosty mornings, foggy mornings, cold days, warm days, no wind, gale force winds, dry weeks and wet weeks. The kind of weather that makes planning hunts and predicting duck behavior pretty tricky for even the wiliest of hunter. But a wily hunter is a persistent hunter, so those who have put in the efforts, like always, are the ones rewarded.

For the younger or newer hunter starting out, don’t be quick to doubt your abilities when you go to social media and see hunters grinning ear to ear as they pose behind their limit bags. Rest assured, these guys would have had plenty of slow days in the mai main before enjoying a good day. Be persistent, try different areas, learn from what does and doesn’t work and you’ll slowly see that freezer keep filling up with delicious wild game meat!

Quick Reminder

A reminder to all hunters of Hawkes Bay that the season this year for mallards, shoveler, parries and swan is 8 weeks long. With the later start of May 7^th this means the last day of this years season is JULY 3^rd

Matariki Weekend

When talking about being persistent as a hunter to increase your successes, there is no better opportunity to get out there more than a long weekend! Queens Birthday weekend has for a long time been a great mid-season opportunity for hunters to get out there. Now we can add another long weekend to the mix as New Zealanders get to celebrate Matariki.

Matariki is an abbreviation of ‘Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimātea’ (‘The Eyes of the God Tāwhirimātea’) and refers to a large cluster of stars, also known as the Pleiades.The predawn rising of Matariki (the large cluster of stars, Pleiades) in the mid-winter sky marks the changing of the seasons and the beginning of the Māori New Year. The holiday marks a time for:

• Remembrance – Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki
• Celebrating the present – Gathering together to give thanks for what we have
• Looking to the future – Looking forward to the promise of a new year

As Hunters, we often have plenty of time to ponder life’s meaning and mysteries as we wait in our blinds for an approaching mallard. This time, instead of talking or thinking about covid, fuel prices, and whether your decoy placement is inch perfect, take the time to remember those hunting mates no longer with us (two and four legged), whilst being present in the day, enjoying the moment you’re in and start making plans toward next season.

Bands

So far this season information from 156 bands have been returned by hunters. These were all ones banded here in Hawkes Bay. Please keep them coming in as you get them, even from bands you shot in previous seasons. Just fill in the relevant information for date shot and a good description of where it was shot, road and rapid number or “Tuki river 1 km downstream from Patangata Bridge” for example. Use the simple online form found here.

Hot Barrels

The team at Fish & Game